Sutton United boss Paul Doswell praised the volunteers who got more than 2,000 people through the Gander Green Lane gates on Saturday, and then praised his players for not getting distracted by all the hype.

United saw off Basingstoke Town 4-0, thanks to a Gavin McCallum brace, and goals from Damien Scannell and Dean Sinclair.

The victory included a debut for Michael Spillane, who drew admiring glances from Doswell and proved to be the perfect fit for the absent Rhys Weston.

The only downside to the day was two yellow cards for Dale Binns, and the flying winger will now miss the visit of Bath City on March 29.

Doswell said: "Full credit has to go to the volunteers who worked so hard to get the leaflets out there, get the publicity and get people into the game.

"It was an amazing afternoon and with 2,200 in the ground, probably beyond our wildest expectations.

"Tim Vine was fantastic as well, he really made the day."

He added: "But from the football point of view, it could have been a real distraction for the players.

"They had camera people pulling them here and there, and it would have been easy for them to lose focus - but that was not the case."

Scannell's opener was a peach, involving a series of intricate passes that opened up the Basingstoke defence giving the midfielder space to fire home after just five minutes.

And while purring about the quality of the move, Doswell was quick to point out it's origins.

"It came straight off the training pitch, it is down entirely to Steve McKimm and Paul Telfer and their hard work with the players," he said.

"No one sees the hard graft they put in, but you saw the result of it on Saturday."

He added: "Michael Spillane is the answer to the mystery of how to fill the space left by Rhys.

"He looked like has been playing with us for years, he settled in so quickly. To be honest, he is playing at the wrong level, he should be much higher.

"But all the time he's with us, he is getting that important game time, and he is a great acquisition."